Fixed….Sort of.

The United Methodist Church has had a small dispute over Pastor Beth Stroud. The problem is that she is a homosexual. I have a few problems here. The first is that a woman should not have a Pastoral position at all. The scripture is very clear about the roles of women in the church. They are not to exercise any authority over men (1 Timothy 2:12, Genesis 3:16). John MacArthur comments on the power struggle that develops in sin when people fail to recognize the position of each adult (the male and female):

So in the same way sin tries to dominate us all, fallen women desire to overpower their husbands, and fallen men tend to oppress them in the same way sin oppresses the sinner. The intended balance, of course, is achieved when men and women lead and submit in a godly manner (Ephesians 5:22-33). (FAQ: Can Women serve as elders in the church?)

That is all I will say on that issue, because my focus here is on homosexuality. Indeed, I have been asked a few times about the standing of homosexuals in the Christian life. They will say their own things, but the Bible is very clear about the position.

What does the homosexual community say and what does the Bible teach?

They attempt to rebuke the way the mainstream church interprets the Bible. This is nothing more than an appeal to post-modernism. The Bible contains millions of applications, but only one correct interpretation (with the exceptions of some of the cryptic prophecies which often had multiple levels of fulfillment…apparently even God decreed that history wrinkles and repeats itself). Here are some of the verses that the homosexual community pulls out:

Genesis 19:1-19 – Their own sources say, “That was a case of ostensibly heterosexual males intent on humiliating strangers by treating them "like women," thus demasculinizing them.” The problem is that this interpretation seems to imply a single event. Go back a bit and gather the context. In Genesis 18:20-21, we see that indeed, these angles are going to Sodom and Gomorrah because of detestable sin. In any case, a whole group of men seeking to homosexually rape two angels is quite a case for concern. The pro-homosexual site defends this by saying, “Their brutal behavior has nothing to do with the problem of whether genuine love expressed between consenting adults of the same sex is legitimate or not.” I will grant them that position. (Here is the source of those quotes as well as more that will be below.)

Deuteronomy 23:17-18 – They state that, “[This should be] pruned from the list, since it most likely refers to a heterosexual prostitute involved in Canaanite fertility rites that have infiltrated Jewish worship.” This is more or less correct. It was not what had infiltrated. This law was given in the middle of the 40 year desert wanderings. It was, however, intended to separate the Israelites from the other surrounding nations of the Promised Land. Indeed, this verse has nothing to do with homosexuality, just male and female prostitutes.

1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 – They say, “It is not clear whether [these verses] refer to the "passive" and "active" partners in homosexual relationships, or to homosexual and heterosexual male prostitutes. In short, it is unclear whether the issue is homosexuality alone, or promiscuity and "sex-for-hire."” This is totally incorrect. These verses are clearly total bans against the Christian being a homosexual. Both of these are just lists of some of the behaviors that are not consistant with the Christian life.

Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 – This one is one of my personal favorite defenses they make for homosexuals, “Such an act was regarded as an "abomination" for several reasons. The Hebrew pre-scientific understanding was that male semen contained the whole of nascent life. With no knowledge of eggs and ovulation, it was assumed that the woman provided only the incubating space. Hence the spilling of semen for any non-procreative purpose--in coitus interruptus (Genesis 38:1-11), male homosexual acts, or male masturbation--was considered tantamount to abortion or murder. (Female homosexual acts were consequently not so seriously regarded, and are not mentioned at all in the Old Testament. One can appreciate how a tribe struggling to populate a country in which its people were outnumbered would value procreation highly, but such values are rendered questionable in a world facing uncontrolled overpopulation.” Houston, we have a problem. First, let me tackle the Genesis 38:1-11 verse. Onan was not killed for the act we now call ‘pulling out’, he was killed because he sinned in two primary ways, 1. He failed to uphold the law of a bother-in-law, which was to secure a name for a deceased brother who died without any children (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) and 2. He lied and said that he would fulfill the duty. The thing was, if Onan fulfilled his duty to his brother, he would have to give his brother’s inheritance to his nephew, but if he did not impregnate the wife of his brother, the inheritance was his own.

Romans 1:26-27 – The defense the pro-homosexual site places forth here is this, “No doubt Paul was unaware of the distinction between sexual orientation, over which one has apparently very little choice, and sexual behavior, over which one does.” A few problems here: The first is that sexual behavior is not necessarily intrinsic, there is much evidence that it is learned environmentally. In either case (that is, whether it be intrinsic or learned) is of little issue. The issue is that Paul’s writing is inspired and a direct statement from God Himself that committing a homosexual act is an abomination. The site continues on, “Paul knew nothing of the modern psycho-sexual understanding of homosexuals as persons whose orientation is fixed early in life, or perhaps even genetically in some cases. For such persons, having heterosexual relations would be acting contrary to nature, "leaving," "giving up" or "exchanging" their natural sexual orientation for one that was unnatural to them.” First of all, Paul is inspired by God, therefore, Science bears absolutely no weight what-so-ever in the issue. Next, it is ‘nature’ here that we are concerned with. I will detail that one later. The last comment here is that, just like Satan in the garden (Genesis 3:1), notice how the Word of God was twisted? Paul says,

for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,²⁷and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another…(Romans 1:26-27)

and they say, “For such persons, having heterosexual relations would be acting contrary to nature, "leaving," "giving up" or "exchanging" their natural sexual orientation for one that was unnatural to them”, under the presupposition that heterosexual sex is the twisted motive.

The website listed above contains many more arguments, I will not go through them all, these just give you a basic idea

How should a Christian today treat a homosexual?

I heard a story not too long ago that a person was talking another who claimed that, “All homosexuals are just going to burn in hell”. A am very sorry to say, but that attitude is very wrong. A homosexual is a sinner just like the rest of us. But just like the rest of us, he must embrace his homosexuality as a sin, confess it before God, loath it in his heart, repent (that is change his mind about it), and take all steps to not engage in it. He must, therefore, become straight. He can only do this by the grace of God.

I can say that for a person who has lived a homosexual life, that will be his primary temptation. It will be very hard, but a homosexual can, in absolutely NO CASE maintain being a homosexual and live in a state of grace. He must embrace the Gospel, as it is, live by the word of God.

Here is a key verse,

⁹Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

¹¹Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) (Emphasis mine)

Christians, we must realize a few things: 1. Homosexuals need to be treated with the same love and respect of any other of God’s creations, including your selves; and 2. they are redeemable.

Homosexuals, you need to realize that you are in sin if you embrace that homosexuality is a ‘lifestyle choice’ and not a sin. You need to know that you can IN NO WAY enter the kingdom of God holding onto that sin. You also need to know that there is hope because the Gospel of Jesus Christ can regenerate YOUR heart, just like it did every other person in history who has accepted the gift. To do so, you must repent and abandon the actions that you have been told are your nature. God is must wiser than any man, and he clearly states that homosexuality is a sin, but you have been led astray and told that it is not. Repent in the name of Jesus Christ. Be washed in your sin. Here is the Gospel of Jesus Christ if you wish to read it. Contact me if you would like assistance.

Here is the purpose of all that: The Methodist Church is in sin. I admonish you as a brother in Christ, you have the obligation to show Beth Stroud where she is living in sin, give her the chance to repent. If she does not repent of her sin, you are commanded by God to cast her out from you. She should not be a member of your church, let alone, teaching, preaching, or ministering in any way if she continues to embrace homosexuality. Please read 1 Corinthians 5 (I know the context is of an adulterous relationship, not a homosexual, but the same situation applies).